Tag Archives: Dubuque Greyhound Park

The needle is moving in the positive direction in greyhound racing, as more news about the odds of shutting down the horrible industry in Iowa comes out. And hopefully, the Florida legislature will follow suit. The Herald-Tribune out of Florida ran an editorial yesterday about the decoupling effort, a move that could drop the requirement to hold dog races at casinos in the state. The next legislative session begins March 4. The editorial notes 12 of the 21 greyhound tracks in the country are in Florida. And then there’s the following tidbit about gambling dollars on dog racing, which have dropped:

… by 72 percent in Florida between 1990 and 2013. During the same period, taxes and fees paid by tracks and collected by the state dropped by 98 percent.

Again, I can’t say this enough: How could any taxpayer support the massive way a few of states have specifically supported this industry, with huge handouts and a requirement that it exist. What other business in the country gets this sort state backing – with a handouts and a guarantee they won’t be shut down, no matter how incredibly deep the losses go.

More good news is coming out of Australia, where the headline on the Young Witness website actually plays the news of greyhound racing’s decline as a bad thing. It’s seems there are ongoing funding cuts and talk of “now it’s all falling down around us” and “alleged mismanagement of the sport by GRNSW.” We can only hope the whole industry falls down – soon.

In some disgusting news out of Great Britain, a trainer is supporting a track in Wimbledon through a “Show of Passion” campaign. How about a show of “compassion” for the dogs by shutting down the industry for good.

The Dubuque Chamber of Commerce is supporting legislation in Iowa that could lead to an end greyhound racing in the state. Specifically, the organization want to see that the Mystique Casino is allowed to have slot machines and table games, while not being required to hold dog races at Dubuque Greyhound Park.

It’s great to see the Dubuque Chamber of Commerce take this stand, to see greyhound racing come to an end in the state.

Bluffs Run in Council Bluffs is the only other dog track in the state. We can only hope the legislation will lead to end to racing there as well.

The DesMoines Register article from Jan. 7 notes information reported by the Telegraph-Herald: To subsidize dog racing in the state, over $55 million has been has diverted from “charitable organizations and the city’s capital projects fund over the past three decades.”

Some politicians in the state are supporting an end to racing, but the DesMoines Register reports Pat Murphy (D-Dubuque) isn’t one of them. It seems Murphy is worried about the jobs (okay, I get – but just help them find other jobs) and he is worried about the greyhound breeders. That last worry is misguided, as the breeders are feeding an industry that has a history abusing dogs.